Before a packed audience at Mandeville City Hall Wednesday members of the Mandeville Zoning Board fired numerous questions at consultants and backers of Our Lady of the Lake's proposal for a new, larger church in Old Mandeville.

Our Lady of the Lake ChurchFinal rendering of the planned Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic Church in Mandeville. Delivered July 19, 2011

As supporters and opponents watched intently, board members asked questions ranging from the size and capacity of the proposed structure to drainage, parking and even possible future expansion plans.

Opponents and supporters patiently sat through nearly two hours of presentations, awaiting their turn to take the lectern and offer their opinions.

Church officials have worked for several years on their proposal for a new, 16,715-square-foot church to help handle the church parish's large congregation. They say the average weekend attendance of 6,000 to 6,500 at Masses far outstrips the existing church's 465-seat capacity, leaving most attendees to participate in Mass in the Chotin Center, a nearby gymnasium.

The new church, which is proposed for a site on Lafitte Street across from the existing church and Chotin Center, would seat 1,028 people.

Church officials say their proposal meets all the criteria set forth in the zoning requirements in Old Mandeville, and are seeking a zoning permit from the board.

Opponents of the new church have criticized its Gothic Revival architectural style and complained that its size will dwarf surrounding buildings and add more traffic congestion to the area's already-clogged streets.

Early on, the board's questions centered on the church parish's potential growth. Board members questioned ranking Bishop Shelton Fabre about the agency's future plans for St. Tammany Parish churches. Fabre was on hand to read a letter from Archbishop Gregory Aymond saying that the archdiocese has vetted the project and supports it.

Noting that Our Lady of the Lake already has a very large congregation -- some 3,000 registered families -- board member Nixon Adams wondered what would happen when the real estate market picks up and building resumes in southern St. Tammany Parish.

"We may be facing the same problem in 10 years," he told Fabre, asking how the archdiocese will handle it.

Fabre said that as growth comes, the archdiocese would likely adjust boundaries and perhaps create new church parishes. But, he said, actual growth -- not so much potential growth -- would likely drive that.

"It's when the people are there," Fabre said, but added that he sees additional parishes being created in St. Tammany as growth resumes in the future.

Board member Terri Bewig asked if people who attend Our Lady of the Lake now are likely to change churches if boundary changes put them in new parishes. Fabre responded that he doesn't think so, agreeing that once people put down roots they are likely to remain with the same church.

Opponents of the new church questioned in a previous zoning board meeting if the planned future construction of the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Mandeville area might relieve some of the pressure on Our Lady of the Lake.

Church officials also told the board they have worked with the city's Planning and Development Department, to tailor their proposal to accommodate the city's concerns.

"We've worked very hard in the last several weeks," said Joe Chautin, a parishioner and lawyer representing the church proposal. He said the site plan was good, but now is "excellent."

Robert Cangelosi, the architect of the proposed church, said the site plan has been changed so that the middle school would be moved across Lafitte Street, which would enable the proposed church to be moved farther north on the site to create a larger buffer zone between the structure on any historic buildings. He said this would also accommodate some changes in parking that would allow school buses to be stacked on church property instead of on Lafitte Street.

But Cangelosi also faced questions from board member Ren Clark concerning potential drainage problems spurred by the development and from Adams on the church's interpretation of the city's building height limits. The church has an average height of 31 feet, with two towers standing around 68 feet tall.

Later, Stephen Phillippi of GEC engineering, which did a traffic and parking study for the church, said on a recent Sunday morning 373 vehicles were counted at the time of the 10:30 a.m. Mass and 360 for the 9 a.m. Mass. Cangelosi said the church has 332 on-site parking spots, and that there are another 107 on public streets nearby.

Several opponents, including Mandeville resident David Pons, who presented a video showing area streets clogged with traffic, said the new church would only worsen congestion and parking problems.

But Tammie Cappo of Madisonville, who leads the school's parent-teacher organization, said the new church is direly needed. She said attending Mass in a gymnasium is not nearly as fulfilling as in an actual church.